Sleeping in someone elses Bed
by Christine Cathryn Ver Leth
Summary: Kat is a witch, with a little bit of a problem, but it's okay the person who found her and is helping her is nice so i guess...
1. Kat and the Couch

Kat lounged about, draping herself off of the dirty laptop or curling up on the crumpled up blankets on the floor. She waited amidst all the clutter and the grime by herself on the mattress that could be called the only "bed" in the apartment. She had just begun to clean her fur when the door opened and a red head peeked in. She pulled herself up from her position on the blankets and mewed quietly.

"HEY, THERE YOU ARE!" She braced herself for the scream and allowed the man-child to pull her up into his arms. "Lookit what we brought for you!" He placed the can of cat food in her face.

She turned her nose up at it and attempted to pull away until the look of dejection appeared on the redhead's face. She couldn't help herself. She looked towards the "food" and sighed. If she hadn't been a cat this wouldn't be a problem. She looked down disgustedly at the food and then twitched her tail, purring and flicking it at the redhead. Then she took a bite. As a human she would have cringed but as a cat she didn't feel it necessary to hurt his feelings anymore. She purred and snuggled up against him. The redhead burst into a cooing state of adoration for her and began petting her the wrong way. She looked to his tall silent companion for sympathy.  
"Hanna? I think she wants down." Hanna Falk Cross looked up from the cat and right at his partner.

"Hmm? Oh you think so?" He set her down onto her feet and placed the food on the floor near her. He threw himself onto the mess of blankets and stared at her as she tiptoed on her kitty paws around the room. The apartment was small and contained very little in the way of furniture. She padded to the only other "comfortable" piece of furniture in the room, a couch that looked as if it had been made in the 60's and should have stayed there. It was Hanna's favorite piece of furniture and she made a habit to avoid it simply due to the fact that it smelled just as bad to her sensitive feline nose. However at the moment her throne of blankets was taken up by one very touchy-feely redhead and in order to not even give him a chance to grab her she made her way to the piece of furniture.

As soon as she stepped near to it she knew she had a problem. Because she didn't ever use this particular piece of furniture, she didn't know where it was safe to jump. Living in this particular household had taught her that such knowledge helped immensely in keeping one's legs, toes, teeth, and just about all of the rest of your body intact. She settled for jumping up onto the soft side of the couch, the side that looked the least dangerous to her. She leapt with feline grace, and managed to hit the "Magic Spot" on the Couch.

Kat sunk feet first into the monstrosity, squealing as she went. Her shrieks of rage were drowned out by Hanna's yells of "NARNIA! Oh Gosh, she found Narnia on the first try!" She assumed those words meant her plight fell on deaf ears when it came to Hanna. She, however, felt hands reaching down and pulling her out of the crevice of that monster that Hanna called a couch. She began to purr immediately when she saw that it was "Raphael", the name of the day for the Zombie that her savior called his partner. She felt the man pull her up close to him and sit himself onto the couch allowing her to stay contentedly in his lap. She closed her eyes and started to purr, completely blocking out the surrounding noise.

Kat woke up hours later, almost falling off of the couch. "Raphael" reached down to grab her, cupping his hand against her back. She purred and twisted so that she was standing, continuing to rub her soft fur against his fingers. She wasn't sure that he could feel it, being a zombie and all, but she liked that even if he couldn't he rubbed her back anyway. She looked up at the only window. It was dark outside so she must have continued sleeping for the last half of the day. She purred contentedly and then leapt off of the bed.

Kat stalked to the mattress, looking patiently. She assumed that Hanna was asleep simply because of the fact that he was so quiet, but as she got closer she noticed on his face the same look of sadness that she saw on occasion. She didn't like it. The way that his eyes teared up and his lips shuddered. He held onto himself in the darkness hugging his own body tight. Kat felt even worse for taking Raphael's attention from him. This only happened on nights where she fell asleep in the other man's lap and his attention strayed to his book. On those nights Hanna seemed to feel it was okay to lapse into this rare state of dejection. As though he saved it for moments when he knew the others couldn't see.

She padded quietly up to the bed. She had no reason to hide herself; she knew he wasn't really looking right now. She then tripped up onto the bed, getting herself entangled into the sheets. As soon as Hanna felt her warmth hit his arm she was smothered. He had his arms holding her so tight that she could barely breathe. She purred even with the lack of oxygen to let him know she was listening and started making cooing noises out of the back of her throat.

The tears stopped like she knew they would, and he began to whisper little things about his day that he liked. He never talked about the past to her. However she was certain that those things should stay locked up. She hated to see him cry, and as she licked the last of the salty tears from his cheek she smiled inside. If she was a girl this red-headed human would have meant nothing to her. But, as a cat he had saved her. Even if the only thing she could do for him was listen she knew that he would take it. He was that way, giving only the best of himself, and keeping the rest locked away. As he fell asleep, she could swear she heard him whisper something about, "I'll show you tomorrow, won't they be surprised" but she could barely make it out with the soft sounds of his breath inhaling and exhaling from sleep.

She cuddled further into his chest and let his arms push her until she was nestled under his chin. The warmth somehow drew her to sleep and the last thing her feline eyes saw was Raphael looking back over the couch at them, one of his rare smiles on his face. 


	2. How she came to be here

Kat looked up when the sunlight fell out the window and touched her face warming it and the bed underneath her. She was stiff from sleeping upside down with her legs splayed out above her in the air. That she truely believed was the one way a cat should never sleep. She stretched the muscles in her legs and turned over on her side.

Her Savior Hanna was nowhere to be found but she really wasn't worried about that. She knew he had a day job at the department store so she had all morning to keep herself entertained. She padded up to where the window was and stood on her hind legs to attempt to paw at it.

Too high she finally decided. She dropped back to all four feet and decided to find something to do. She stalked around the tiny apartment for an hour and then finally decided to place herself in her mortal enemy's clutches. She leapt from the floor to the back of the couch and finally settled there listening to "Spike" bang around in the kitchen. She lolled back and forth between sleep and awake when out of nowhere she thought about something. She rolled over exposing her soft underbelly to the sunlight.

Why was she here? She paused and pondered the question. It had come out of the blue and was a question she had been avoiding for days. Even thinking about the question had it's problems. She paused a moment to think about it. She had been here two weeks and hadn't even begun to think about where she was going. She wanted to leave, but she knew she couldn't. She had to find a family member to help her turn back first. She settled herself into place and felt the warm sun touching her belly. That day two weeks ago, This whole mess had started then.

She pictured it in her minds eye, the warm sunshine and the radio blaring. It was one of her favorite songs, "She-Wolf" By Shakira. She listened over and over to the song lapping up the power that dripped from the words. She loved that song which was why she guessed she remembered that the most. Her brothers were in the car with her. She remembered that as well. She had to have been working with them on something but what? She tried to remember but her brain was still foggy. She couldn't imagine much about the task that she and her siblings were fulfilling. In fact she was positive she couldn't even remember where. She thought and thought but nothing came to mind.

Out of nowhere a crash arose and she leapt off of the couch to investigate. She found herself nose to ankle with "Spike" and the Plate that he had dropped had shattered on the Floor. That made her sigh, poor Hanna had few plates as it is and now the two of them were down another one. She stopped as she remembered something. The sound of the glass hitting the floor had triggered a lapse. She had fallen out a window, and if Hanna found her in a dumpster, then she must have fallen out of that window into a dumpster. She remembered that she had had a ton of cuts and bruises on her body when Hanna had first brought her here. Most of them had healed by now but a few still lingered stubbornly. She couldn't remember why she had gone out the window or why her brothers had not come to get her, but a few things were clearer now.

She began cleaning herself to get her bearings. She was still fuzzy on a few of the details but at least she remembered the window. That was something. She felt "Spike" lift her up and away from the broken glass and set her on the counter. Things were quiet for a moment as the zombie swept the Broken pieces into a small pile and then tried his best to get them into the garbage can. After a few moments of unsuccessful attempts he seemed to give up and left them in a pile on the floor. He carried her to the couch and sat down with her on his lap. They sat there in silence for a few moments. The only sound being her soft purring.

"We have to get a dust pan" he said absent mindedly to the cat. He stroked her fur as he sat there watching seemingly nothing. She assumed his thoughts were on the apartment but after a moment he proved her wrong. "Do you think Hanna's alright?" He asked her as if she could answer back, and as a human she would have. As a cat however things were different and she was no closer to answering him than if she had been a peanut butter cookie. He must have smiled because she felt his petting change to a gentle scritching on her neck. She loved it when he did that and he only did that when he was smiling. She waited and listenend to the sounds the apartment made. It was so small and dingy that she would do anything to get out of here. She however owed herself to Hanna and until her debt was repaid she had to stay, no question about it. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever when she heard her familiar. *STOMP STOMP STOMP CRASH* in the hallway. Her savior had made it safely to the door and was even now attempting to rip it off It's hinges to get inside. She waited as he pushed the key towards the lock multiple times and missing each one. "He must be really excited about something" she heard the warm voice say above her.

The door flew open and Hanna entered carrying bags. he threw them on the table and pranced around to the two of them seated on the couch. "GUESS WHAT?" Hanna's blue eyes were sparkling and he was grinning like a mad man meaning he had found something spectacular to tell them. "Spike" turned his head to look at Hanna and Kat did the same her icy blue eyes watching Hanna bounce up and down on the cushion. Hanna stood up and stretched his arms wide. "WERE GOING ON A FIELD TRIP!" he yelled giggling hysterically. He reached down and plucked Kat from "Spike's" Lap and twirled her in the air.

"Where are we going?" was the Zombie's reply.

Hanna smiled down at him complacently. "Oh nowhere special were just going to take the kitty to go see WORTH! It'll be so much fun! I mean worth has to love cats right?!"

Kat and "Spike" both doubted very much that worth liked anything especially cats, however they owed it to hanna to make this look like a good idea and so both took it upon themselves to act contented with the fact. Kat began purring softly and well "Spike" could think of nothing better to do than to nod his head. After all Hanna may not be good at lying but he was quick to catch someone who was.

Hanna smiled so wide that both of them were skeptical. "We'll go to Worth's and then Connie's and then who knows maybe we'll go see Vess and Tori?" he giggled and held onto the cat. "COME ON LETS GO BEFORE WORTH LOCKS UP!" he left his unopenend bags on the table and ran out the door with the cat, orange eyed zombie fast on his heels. 


	3. Visiting the Doctor

Worth was sitting at his desk the entire "Clinic" closed for the evening, or so he thought. He needed sleep just like everyone else and so he had locked the door in order to well, sleep at his desk. His sleeping scheduel was erratic so he just managed to find time to sleep whenever he felt tired enough to warrant it, which at the moment seemed to be now. He paused to close his eyes...

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* the rapping on the door was pissing him off. Who in their right mind would be knocking on the door of HIS clinic at this time of day. He looked at the clock. It had just passed sundown so the faggoty vampire was out of the question. He would just be "Waking up" to begin his evening. He scowled assuming who was on the other side of the door. He stalked up to it and threw it open.

"I'll pay your god da&%d bill Lamont just give me some god da*!d ..." he left it off at the word time. It wasn't Lamont on his doorstep but it was something worse. He stared fuming at the red head. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF .... WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU DOING HERE AND WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT!" he guaged the boy's appearance. Nothing seemed to be out of place. No scratches, bruises, contusions, didn't even look like the kid had bumped his head. What was wrong? He grabbed ahold of Hanna's arm and pulled him into the clinic, watching the Zombie follow. Worth didn't really keep track of the names that Hanna gave the guy, It wasn't his job to keep coming up with them or even keep track of them. He looked Hanna up and down, Nothing was wrong or out of place. His frown deepened, of course the kid would show up just to play around his clinic. He growled at Hanna and was very suprised when his grumble was met by a very real snarl coming from under Hanna's arm.

"So what the f*ck IS that?" Worth gestured to the cat dangling towards the ground but very clearly focused on him. It didn't look to pleased either. At the mention of her Hanna held up the cat in front of him.

"She's a cat worth! Isn't she cute? She could be a familiar or something! I just picked her up out of a dumpster, she was all dirty and cut up and stuff but i fixed her! Good as new!" Hanna looked anxiously at Worth, as if the man was going to congradulate him. Worth simply took another look at the cat. Just like Hanna to get his cat out of a dumpster too, and fixed, he spotted several deep wounds on the cats right hip that were healing and a few on her ear that were small cuts. He huffed at the look of the creature. To his suprise she "Chuffed" back. Her blue eyes were focused on him but she was looking the other way, at Hanna he knew it because when the boy smiled she started to purr.

"Da#^ kid bringing in a D$n cat." He turned around and headed back to his desk. "How are you going to f*ckin keep it?" He looked at the kid as though he was insane. The boy could barely feed himself and yet he was going to have a f*ckin animal depend on him? Worth didn't care if the cat ate or starved but he knew that Hanna would sooner feed the cat then himself, and he didn't need the boy coming in passed out due to hunger. It just wasn't going to happen, Hanna owed him enough money as it was, bumming food off of him would just add to the boy's meager living. "Can't you give it to Count Fagula or something?"

He knew he'd hit a nerve as soon as he said it. Hanna tugged the tuft of tan fur up to his neck and snuggled it. "She's mine Worth! I'M keeping her not Conrad." Worth heard a "Chuff" of response coming from the now thoroughly smothered cat.

He ran his fingers through his greasy blonde hair. "FINE" he turned around and headed back to his desk. "Go on you've shown it to me NOW GET THE F*CK OUT!" he pointed at the door for emphasis and eased himself back into the chair. He listened to the boy pace around the room for a moment and then...

"Hanna?" He heard a quiet "Hmm?" from the other side of the room.

"I TOLD YOU TO F*CKIN GO." he snarled. He didn't hear footsteps so he opened his eyes. Hanna was standing at the other end of the room his head drooped down so that Worth couldn't see his eyes. The man sighed, "What the f*ck is it?"

The red head looked up and blushed. "Ummmm Worth would you mind watching her for a little while? We gotta go out and get some things and since were already here and...." his voice trailed off but Worth knew what he wanted.

"FINE DA#%$t but DONT YOU DARE FORGET TO F*CKIN COME BACK FOR IT!" He watched as Hanna raced over and set the cat on the desk kissing it's forehead before dashing back outside. Worth guessed it might be so that he didn't change his mind. It wasn't until a few moments after Hanna was gone that Worth really realized what he'd done. "Sh$ HANNA." the man looked down at the cat angrily. Worth wasn't a pet babysitter and he sure as Hell wasn't going to start to just for Hanna. He glared at the cat sitting on his desk. "STAY HERE YOU PIECE OF..." He was about to say something else but knocking on the door caught his ear. "HANNA YOU GET YOUR F*CKIN A** BACK IN HERE AND GET YOUR DA#..." his voice trailed off as he left the room.

Kat paused and looked up, the greasy man with the blonde hair was gone and her Hanna was nowhere to be found. What a predicament. She Lay on the desk with one paw crooked under her and the other curled around the front. She began to lick the visible one with gusto. No use in staying dirty even if this were the most despicable place she could think of. She paused to look around the room. It didn't really appear to be a doctor's office to her, instead more of a crackpot shady ... loan shark's office, someplace you would see on a poster of the Before image in a before and after set.

She looked around the room eyeing the books and lamp, and well what little else there was to look at. She didn't even see a medical diploma. She noticed the lack of diploma and Degree's and began to wonder if this "Worth" fellow really was a "Doctor"

She started when she heard yelling in the hall. "GOD#!itt LAMONT!" she watched as the blonde returned backwards with a darker haired man in front of him. The darker haired man seemed to be pushing Worth back towards the desk and they were talking about something to do with money, all Kat realized was she was about to be sat on. She yelped as Worth was backed up to the edge of the desk and pushed ontop of it. She screeched and ran for under a chair.

The darker haired man turned to look confused. "You got a CAT?" The confusion was all Worth needed to push his tormenter off of him.

"GETOFFA ME." Lamont fell backwards and caught himself before he hit the floor. Worth on the other hand just got up off of the desk and headed towards a shelf. He was searching through pills when he answered Lamont. "It's not f*ckin mine," He said matter of factly, "I'm watching it for Hanna" Lamont laughed when he heard that. "The kid got a cat? He can barely take care of himself!" Worth laughed at that along with his partner.

"HEY!" They both turned to see the source of the voice. Hanna was standing in the doorway with "Spike" behind him. His blue eyes looked hurt that they even thought he was incapable of taking care of his kitty. "I can too take care of myself! I have a job, and an apartment!" he said the last with a bit of pride in his voice.

Noone in the room was willing to point out that his job was working for minimum wage at a department store, and that his "Apartment" was a run down hole in the wall that most people would not even use as storage, let alone to live in. Hanna raced to the chair that the cat was lying under. "I'm taking her to go see Connie next! You wanna come?" He looked from Worth to Lamont.

Lamont shook his hands out in front of him. "No way kiddo! I gotta get some Deliveries done tonight, but while your out there you mind dropping something off with him for me?" He waited for Hanna to nod yes before heading back out to his Van to get it. Hanna turned to Worth.

The blonde man shook his head and dropped back into his seat. "I'M GOING TO SLEEP, GET THE F*CK OUTTA HERE." he began to once again get comfortable when he heard the kid close the door. Now the only thing he would have to deal with was falling... *Whump* Worth felt a large, warm, HEAVY object pressing down on his stomache and his lap. He tilted his head back to get a good look at the intruder. Lamont stared back down at him grinning. "So where's my money sweetheart?" Worth snarled. This was going to be a LONG night. 


	4. Kat Almost Get's a Name

The Macbook in front of him lit up and he paused putting his mug of... well of his "Breakfast" on the counter. Conrad Achenleck had very little problem drinking out of a cup but, drinking out of a living person was another matter, Being a vampire this didn't help him in the least. He lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip, the blood running over his tongue and through his fangs made him cringe. A few months ago and he would have thought you insane if you said he would be drinking blood out of a coffee cup. Nowadays he knew better. His life had a habit of going from bad to worse, and of course there was always one tie in to that.

He had "Done something" about that tie in on numerous occasions, but that one thing was hard to get rid of, and the worst part was when he left you missed him. Yes that "Tie in" was a person, and yes he was a red headed ingrate named Hanna. He kept sipping his drink and thinking about his current commission. It paid well and was from a Well known Photographer. He wanted graphic Images to use on his website, they had to be done within two weeks (Which Conrad was sure he could do) and the second requirement was they had to be approved by The photographers three kids.

Conrad wasn't so sure about that one, The three of them were supposed to be showing up for a viewing of the Images some time this week, but just last night He had gotten a email stating that the daughter had gone missing. His commission would still be paid but he had to wait to send the images over until she was found. No reason provided, no time frame, just a "Wait". He shook his head and sifted through the beginning designs. The man had been fair and allotted him to use the original designs for the basis, but Conrad was looking to do something different.

He paused stopping on one image in particular. It wasn't one of the images he was using but it was the image that on the website led to the daughters page. Purple and green with a Bird flying down the center. The Photographer had called his Daughter his "Golden bird" Conrad liked the term. It seemed wild somehow, like she was something to be coveted while she stayed. But also telling you that she would, someday, fly away and leave. He laughed at himself. When did he start getting sentimental over a commission... Maybe now that he had more time and was rightfully dead.

He pushed his headphones back onto the crown of his head. He thought he heard knocking but he really wasn't sure *Rap Rap Rap* No there it was again. He saved his commission screen and closed the laptop lid. He'd had far to many accidents with his current crowd to hope that nothing would happen to his commission if he left it on. He stood up and walked over to the door. The *Rapping* didn't stop and only got more excited as he looked out the peephole in the door. One huge blue eye stared back at him from the other side.

"What do you want Hanna?" He said opening the door. The exuberant man practically fell into his lap and ran past him into the condo. He looked out the door at the zombie, What was his name today? Hanna hadn't told him. He stared awkwardly at him for a moment, "Do you want to come in or are you content just standing outside?" He felt bad that he couldn't think of anything else to say. He moved out of the way as the zombie said thank you and entered the condo. What in the world was he doing surrounded by these two all the time? He reentered the living room to see Hanna on the floor with something furry in front of him. He clucked to the thing and it purred back attempting to pounce on his hand. Conrad looked on in horror as the thing meticulously made it's way across the carpet banging into , tables the TV, and his couch as it went. When it knocked into his computer desk and began crawling into the chair he began to panic.

"HANNA! what the he!l is that thing?!" he raced over to the desk and pulled it up off the chair. Now that he was close and holding onto it he could tell it was a cat. A FEMALE cat. He heard a Snarl as he took his hand away from her back end and she latched onto his arm.

"Spike" stood there watching bemusedly. Hanna was on the floor laughing and screaming for no reason other than he seemed to find it blatantly funny that Conrad was being attacked by this CAT. With a final huff Conrad was able to rip the thing off his arm and drag it to the door. This Hanna did not seem to find as funny as he rushed to the aide of the animal.

"CONNIE NO!" Hanna reached out and grabbed the cat from the vampire's hand and pressed it against his chest. "She's just playing."

Conrad grew impatient with the red head and grabbed at him. Hanna squealed and jumped back. The game grew more and more exuberant as the minutes passed Conrad jumping towards and almost catching Hanna, Hanna dodging with the cat securely pressed into his chest, The cat gasping for breath as the game caused what little was left of her courage to fly right out of her. The chase lasted for around ten minutes in which Hanna successfully managed to trip over the TV cord, the coffee table, the desk lamp and both the chair and the couch.

Finally as the last of his energy gave out Conrad called a truce. I won't throw it out" he promised "If you tell me where in the world you got the Damn thing." he sat back down at his desk and watched as Hanna began to stroke the cat that was definitely getting her wind back.

"I found her in a dumpster" Hearing this made Conrad sigh. Leave it to Hanna to pick a cat up out of a dumpster. "She was all scratched up and covered in glass. I think she fell out a window." Conrad shook his head and took a double take of the scene. Did that cat just NOD? He crawled down on the floor next to Hanna to take a better look. Even after being dragged around the place and nearly strangled she looked fine. He watched Hanna reach out to finger her paws.

"What's her name?" Conrad looked a Hanna warily, knowing his taste in names she was probably called Buffy or Summer.

Hanna blushed and watched her play on the floor. "I haven't really thought of one that fits her yet. She doesn't seem all that interested when I just come up with names to tell you the truth... So I've just been calling her kitty."

The Vampire sighed and reached forward to pet her forehead. He grinned pleased when she pressed her fawn colored face upwards to meet his hand. "Well she's a cat Hanna she's not going to respond immediately when you pick a name. It'll take some time." He ran his fingers along her spine and rubbed her ears with the tips of his fingers. "Think of something I'm sure she'll like anything you pick."

Hanna looked down at the Cat and then grinned, "So Buffy would be fine?"

"No" both Conrad and the cat looked appalled.

"Hmmmm how about Xena?" Hanna's eyes lit up.

The Yowl from the furry miscreant decided that one. "I think you better keep thinking of names Hanna. Now do you three have something to do here or are you just here to bug me?"

Hanna smiled. "We came to show you the kitty, but it your busy right now we can go see Ples and Veser?"Hanna looked so down that Conrad couldn't say Yes.

"If you want you can watch DVD's on the TV, BUT be quiet ok? I'm trying to work." He stood back up and walked back to his computer watching Hanna out of the corner of his eye. Hanna was so excited he stood up so fast that he almost stepped on the cat who ran out of the way at the last second. Hanna leapt onto the couch and pressed the TV remote to on. Pretty soon cartoon network was blaring out the speakers. Conrad turned around to say something, but "Spike" Had already snagged the remote and turned down the sound.

The Vampire turned back to his computer and flicked the screen up. Once again the images glowed to life. He felt compelled to look at the bird again but just as he brought it up on screen something *Thumped* onto his lap. He looked down to see the cat staring intently at the image, her tail twitching back and forth. A loud *Yowl* came out of her as she made a jump for the desk next to him. She then purred and began rubbing her face against the screen. Coincidence? He couldn t tell. He tried another picture but that didn't get the same result. Confused he tried going through his entire gallery. Each time she reacted like that to a picture he clicked it and copied it to a separate folder. He would look later to see what was different about these pictures.

Just as he reached the last three pictures Hanna sat straight up. "WE HAVE TO GO" he said jumping up to grab the cat. Conrad reached out to pull her back but Hanna was already halfway out the door. "See you later Connie but Vess and Ples are waiting for us!" The red head seemed to make a mad dash out the door before Conrad could interject. Soon all that was left were him and the sound of "Time Squad" on the TV.

He stood up and pushed the off button letting the room collapse back into darkness. "Why does he do that?" he grumbled going back to his computer. He pulled up the folder of the pictures that she had yowled at. As he looked at them he noticed one thing. EVERY SINGLE ONE was from the photographer's website. He stared awestruck at the screen. It was almost like the Cat KNEW which pictures were from the website.

He shook his head and headed to the kitchen to get some blood. He'd think about it later. No use racking his brain over something he couldn't stop. 


	5. Kat Dances in the Rain

Kat pressed herself against Hanna's chest as he ran through the rain. She couldn't quite tell but she thought that she could make out footsteps behind them. As far as she was aware "Spike" had followed them from Conrad's Condo. She sqiggled until she could look out under Hanna's arm to see behind him as he ran. Even in this precarious position the first thing that she saw was spike running at a gentle lope behind them watching to make sure that hanna didn't trip and fall.

Instead of turning around she continued to stare out behind them. There were very few people on the street now. Especially with the downpour that Hanna decided to drag them out through. She twitched her nose as the water cascaded down her face. She regarded her position rather seriously and then decided on a different mode of placement. She attempted to squish her face under hanna's shirt tickling him as she went.

Hanna slowed down laughing hysterically "KITTY STOP!!!" he giggled even as he called out. He squirmed to get her out from under his shirt laughing and grinning as she tried to squirm herself even deeper into the stopped when she felt something strange. As she touched his skin she noticed small patches of steel on his chest. she purred and screamed at her brain not to, but the cat in her didn't listen, she stuck her tongue out and... "AHHHH! STOP STOP THAT TICKLES SOOOOOOO MUCH!" Hanna's screaming and laughing got even louder and frantic as she tried to squirm off of his moving body.

They must have looked like a circus act. The childlike red head running around with something furry with a tail stuck up his shirt, and dancing as though he was in a breakdance crew. They were at a standstill she was going up whether he wanted her to or not. She continued to squirm up his shirt until she reached what she thought was a hole. SHe wasnt mistaken and her head popped out right next to Hanna's.

"SPIKE LOOK I HAVE 2 HEADS!" Hanna giggled happily and then stuck his arms out in front of him like he was a monster. "RAWR! I AM A TWO HEADED MONSTER" They wandered around for a few moments like that, Person and cat just enjoying themselves. Kat suddenly felt an inane need to look to her left. Hanna giggled as she squirmed around so she was looking out, but all she could see was the darkness and rain. She tried looking closer and then she saw it.

The two of them stuck out like a sore thumb, she would know Casmiro's b#tchy jaunt (As she liked to call it) and Uncle Finas's voice anywhere. She needed to get their attention somehow. She tried to Yowl but with Hanna's laughing and the rain her own voice was drowned out rather quickly. She wished it hadn't, just a few more moments and she would have been human again. She began to mope for a moment just realizing that she would rather be home in her warm bed then with the person who saved her life. She really wished she didn't feel that way but she couldn't help wanting to be home and safe.

Hanna started singing some obscure Queen song which, Kat never having heard a word of Queen in her life before living with Hanna did not know. She purred into his neck and tried to meow along with him. Listening to him laugh was a definate mood attempted to squirm out of his shirt to sit on his shoulder. She was getting cramped trying to hold herself up in the collar of his shirt. Then Kat felt herself lifted up and out of her predicament. The Zombie bundled her up under his own coat and grabbed hanna's arm pulling him out of the street. She looked down to see a couple of cars coming. There really wasn't much else out there but she knew that "Spike" probably didn't want them getting hit for standing in the middle of the street.

The Zombie put her in a rather large pocket on the inside of his coat. Then with his free hand he pulled hanna along the street. They crossed to the only lighted house on the Avenue. It was small and quaint and the lawn was perfectly tailored to match those around it. There was nothing remarkable about it at all except of course for the Man who lived there. Hanna pressed up against the door and looked through the peephole pushing the button for the alarm over and over again.

"WHAT THE He!L man what do you think your doin?" Large green eyes greeted them when Veser Amaker Hatch opened the door. "Oh hey Han, whatcha doin?" Kat peeped out of the coat and looked at the boy, he looked normal except for the HUGE green eyes but other than that?... Wait a moment. She caught it when he opened his mouth and when he smiled. "Nya?" He had rows of sharks teeth LIKE REAL ONES. She squirmed and tried to get a closer look at him. "Hey man is your coat like ummmm... moving?"

The Zombie reached down and pulled Kat out of the pocket. "WOAH F*c!er! They sell cat's in coats now?" He reached out to pet her and she smelled the fish on his skin.

"NO Silly I found her" Hanna reached out to claim his pet and pulled her back to his chest. "I wanna show Ples too where is he? I thought you guys were going swimming?"

Veser turned to lead them back towards the living room. "Naw... It started storming out there ya know so we just decided to head back here. Closer than me going back home." as soon as they reached the couch he flopped down unceremoniously and took Hanna with him. "HEY PLES!" He stopped when the body in the chair raised it's hand.

Ples Tibenoch didn't even bother to put down his book when he spoke. "I am aware Veser I could hear you all the way from in here. Now will you please quiet down so i can finish this? I would love to get it done soon."

Kat watched the green eyed Teenager look moodily at the person in the chair before quieting down and stretching himself onto the couch. "Poke'mon" was on the television set but the sound was turned down so low that Kat couldn't figure out what they were saying. She stretched herself out fully along Hanna's chest and felt his breathing rise and fall. She liked to do this so that she knew he wasn't dead. There really wasn't that big of a comfort for "Spike" but she did her best with what she had. She chuffed and attempted to fall asleep onto Hanna's chest. With the chair person reading maybe Hanna would sit still long enough for her to get some shut eye. She always wanted to sleep especially now that she was a cat. She squished herself into the crack between Hanna's left side and the couch twitching her tail up along Hanna's belly. Her eyes began to close and she was lulling into the soft state between awake and asleep.

"You know he'll just knock you off when he goes to do something." She looked up, the chair had talked again. The man moved his book aside so that she could see his face. It was graying at the temples and looked rather old, but she could tell from his scent that he was younger than her parents. He looked over at Hanna. "Hanna I'm warning you, being piled on him is not a good idea." He replaced the book in front of himself and sighed. Better to let them learn themselves.

Kat took the good advice and crawled off up onto the back of the couch. She was lucky that she did because, as soon as she was comfortable, Veser seemed to decide he needed something from the kitchen. He pushed Hanna up off of him and tossed him over onto the floor. "Come on man I need to stretch." He began vehemently stretching to show off and then raced to the kitchen throwing the fridge door open.

Kat watched Hanna get up giggling and take himself right on in there behind Veser. "Spike" sat down in the chair opposite The book. Making himself as comfortable as he was going to get. The book moved again, to reveal the man's face. "If the two of you so much as TOUCH my alcohol I will make sure that every drop I'm missing get's taken out of your hides." He went back to reading his book while Kat heard sputtering from the Kitchen. The fridge opened again and she thought she could hear a bottle being replaced. She heard the man with the book huff and then return to reading.

Ples attempted to focus on his chapter but he had too many things going on at once to concentrate. Instead he took his book and bookmarked his page and then stood up. He glanced around the room eyes settling on the cat. "Do not pee on my couch please." was his warning. He heard a Chuff in response, as though the warning was an insult. "Alright as long as you do not." He headed into the kitchen looking for his delinquent house guest's. Both of whom were on the porch watching the rain. "I would appreciate if you dried off before coming back in. I DO NOT want my furniture all wet if you would be so kind." He turned to leave when Vess cut in.

"Don't be such a geezer, OLD MAN. Were just watching the storm." He continued to watch as the lightning grazed the skies. Ples smiled graciously, apparently the boy forgot who he was talking to. He reached out and grabbed Veser's arm tightly dragging him into the house. He stopped to tap Hanna's shoulder and point him towards the living room before dragging Veser in through the house.

"You really should remember who owns this house." He said smiling. He wasn't quite this controlling when they were outside, but in his own home he expected to be listened to ESPECIALLY by guests. He pushed the 19 year old into the bathroom with more force than necessary. "DO be dry before you come out? will you?" then he closed the door on the boy's complaints. He really wasn't that old and had no idea why Veser seemed to like to pick on him by saying he was. He walked to the end of the hall and opened the towel closet. he plucked one from the rack, making sure it was a large one, and then he made his way back to the living room. Hanna was standing in front of The Zombie giving him a full rendition of what he'd just saw outside.

"Mr Cross?" Hanna looked up. "Please do dry yourself off before sitting on anything." He threw the towl and watched as Hanna tried in vain to catch it. The red head grinned as he picked it up off the floor and started rubbing himself dry. He started with his hair and began moving methodically downwards. No matter what he seemed to do however his pants stayed wet. He stood there trying obsessively for a few minutes to no avail.

Ples felt bad. He had asked Hanna to dry off before sitting down but if he couldnt dry off he wouldnt sit down. A piece of the boy's personality that made him so likable perhaps. The fact that he really wanted to please and would try his best to. "Hanna? If you want I can ask Veser if you can borrow some of his clothes." The older man watched hanna for a moment to guage his response.

"That would be cool" Hanna giggled. Ples stood up to go ask, however then they heard the shower start and all three of them sighed. "Well that's out." He laughed half hartedly knowing he would have to stand there sopping wet until Veser got out. The older man sighed, Veser always seemed to take too long in the shower but he just supposed that was the child's gene's kicking in. He wanted to go in and ask anyway but he didn't know if veser was in the shower yet or just standing there... He blushed. Veser sometimes did that, just stood there just incase he came in. Just to pick on him. Ples however did not want Hanna to have to stand there sopping until Veser decided he was going to have some kindness and remove himself from the shower.

"Spike" saved the day by grabbing onto hanna's wet jeans and pulling him onto his lap. "You can sit here until Vess get's out, that way you won't have to stand" Hanna smiled and rubbed up against his neck.

"OF COURSE THATS YOUR REASON" He giggled when the zombie raised an eyebrow.

"I really should leave an extra set of clothes for you everywere we regular. Your like a kindergardener. And you know how the parents have to have an extra set of clothes there for accidents. The only issue is I don't think we HAVE enough clothes for you to be able to do that and I'm pretty sure if I ask the bar owner he'll find some excuse to use that as proof your not 21." He smiled looking down at Hanna.

"I'm 24! I'M LEGALLY ALLOWED TO DRINK!" was the response he got. They sat there quietly watching the history channel (Which "Spike" Had turned on while the two younger were gone) in the quiet. Out of nowhere Hanna seemed to remember the cat. "Holy shit where's Kitty?!" he looked worridly over the living room until her spied her on the back of the couch , where she'd put herself origionally. She purred to let him know she was listening and then turned herself around to face him. He stretched his hand out and she came up and touched her nose to his fingers. "Here kitty, come on girlie over here." He rubbed the tips of his fingers against her soft mouth and grinned with delight when her teeth rubbed over one. "SHE IS SMILING" he said in his overly loud Hanna voice. Both men laughed at this. The cat loved Hanna enough to let him know she was happy by smiling. What a good pick up for the 24 year old dumpster diver.

"Spike" put his feet up which allowed Hanna to rest his on the zombie's legs. Then the cat jumped from the back of the couch to the arm of the chair. She traipsed down onto the sopping wet, Jean clad lap. Her purr never faltering. Ples was enthralled. The three of them looked really happy. But what he was most amazed at was the fact that the cat really didn't seem to mind getting wet. She seemed to relish in the fact that Hanna was with her. She also seemed to relish in the thought that the boy LIKED having here here. Maybe it was the ultimate dumpster deal and if so someone was up there watching out for the boy. Someone, somewhere wanted to see him happy.

"Wahoo!!!" the sound came from the bathroom door and everyone turned to see Vess walking out clad in a pair of Pajama pants. They were dark blue silk and a few sizes too large but other than that not a thing was noticable about them.

"Why are you wearing those?" The three inhabitants of the chair turned to look at Ples, Who was blushing and looked about ready to throw his book at the Half-Selkie.

"Don't like them?" The cheeky reply seemed to be all Ples needed. He looked back at his book and started stammering nonsense.

"I... you... mine..." that was all the three could decipher from his words.

The selkie boy turned to the chairs inhabitants. "They look good right? he said laughing. He then ran to the couch and jumped over the back. By this time Ples was silent so the rest of them could safely assume that he had retreated back into his book, if not driven only by embarrassment.

"They LOOK GREAT" Hanna laughed and grinned back at Veser. Then he seemed to remember his predicament. "OH hey could i borrow some clothes? Ples said you had some here and well I kinda need to dry mine." He looked at the ground sheepishly as though being wet and having nothing to wear were something to be ashamed of.

Veser looked up and noticed the look on Hanna's face. "No prob, I'm not wearing mine anyway! You can try em' on to see if they fit." He stood up again and raced back towards the bathroom.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment while it sounded like a hurricane was going through Ples's house. Then the green eyed wonder came back holding a set of sweats decorated solely with Ves's Name on it and a tee shirt with ves's name and a picture of a shark. "It's my high school sweat's if you wanna try them. I usually sleep in just the pants but..." he left it open ended. All three of them knew what hanna was hiding under his shirt. "I hope you don't mind..." He was about to say something else but Hanna had already stood up and was reaching for the sweats.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it!" He raced back to the bathroom clothes in hand. The three of them watched as he cometed towards the bathroom. It wasn't until the door closed that they realized he had taken the cat with him.

"Spike" sighed. "Can we stay here?" was all he said. Ples looked up from his book and then at Veser.

"Alright... but Vess is in the guestroom. You'll have to sleep on the couch." He nodded to the couch which by standard was much nicer than theirs. The revalation was followed by a "We don't mind" and the zombie sinking lower into the chair to relax. He didn't do it often but when he thought he could he attempted to. Remembering helped him to stay focused and not get upset when he remembered something later.

Hanna was in the bathroom with the cat. He put her on the sink and started pulling his clothes off. Kat however was terribly embarassed by this. Not that Hanna seemed to notice. He pulled of his socks first and then started on his pants. Kat leaned down and put her paws around her face. "Awwwwww. Your so CUTE" Hanna cried out. "You look like your hiding." He picked her up and squeezed her. She cringed. Hanna was standing in his underwear holding onto a cat with his pants wet and down around his ankles. Kat squirmed to get away and jumped back onto the sink.

Hanna sighed."Fine you can stay there for a minute while I get dressed. He grinned anyway but she knew he felt hurt. She just couldn't stay in his arms like that. She felt ... weird. Even if she WAS a cat. She sat on the sink trying not to watch as he took his shirt off, but her eye was caught. She saw the staples even before he pulled the shirt fully off. The Long scar running down his chest in a zigzag pattern. She heard herself squeak before she could stop herself and he looked over at her. "Hmmm? Something wrong Kitty?" he reached out to pet her head and she leaned in. What in the world had he done? Why the scar, where did it come from? She looked puzzled at him. He wouldn't tell her. He never did when something was bad. She stopped moping long enough to chuff at him. There wasn't anything in the world that would make her stop worrying about him. He had the luck of roadkill. Which she was hoping he NEVER EVER became. She watched him pull the shirt over his head and now fully dressed he reached over and picked her up.

His wet clothes were in his other hand as he headed out of the bathroom and made his way to the couch to sit next to Vess. "Put them in the laundry room." was all Ples had to say for him to head through the kitchen to dump them in the basket. He headed back and sat on the couch, contented ball of tawny fur in his lap.

Everything was quiet and relaxed for a half an hour. Until all the clocks in the house started going off one by one. Ples stood up replacing his book on the side table and shutting off the lamp. He came back a few moments later with blankets and two pillows. He set them on the coffee table and looked at Hanna. "It's midnight and I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow morning." He stepped out of the room and after a few moments Veser followed him.

Now it was just Hanna and The zombie alone together. Hanna yawned but sat up on the couch. He took both pillows and threw them on the couch and then preceded to stack the blankets on the floor. "What are you doing?" the Other man asked.

Hanna grinned. "I'm making a nest on the floor!" was his enthusiastic response. He crawled into the circle of blankets and made himself comfortable. The Cat took her place on the top of the couch and watched as the Zombie stood up. He assumed the set pillows were for him and lay down on the couch quietly just staring up at the ceiling. He knew Hanna liked having him close which was why he had made his "Nest" right next to the couch. His red hair stuck out all over the place and his breathing was sporadic but, he was sure Hanna was asleep. He just knew, like he knew when his partner had hurt himself. It was instinct he guessed but he wasn't quite sure on that one. He sighed and continued to stare at the ceiling.

The cat cocked her head and began to fall asleep. Everything was quiet minus an incessant ticking that she had heard ever since they had entered the house. She assumed it was all the old clocks but she wasn't sure. That answer just did not feel right in her head. Instead she cooed and tried to fall asleep. After listening to them for a few moments she realized that the clocks seemed to be more soothing than anything. She soon drifted into a quiet dreamless sleep.

She woke up later that night at around 3 am. She felt as though something had changed and she looke down to check on her Hanna and her Zombie. They were both fine but sometime during the last 3 hours Hanna had gotten up off of his nest of blankets and settled himself on his partners stomache. His head was pressed firmly under the zombies chin and his arm was wrapped around his chest. He was sleeping soundly and Kat assumed that The older man had pulled up one of the blankets, because draped across Hanna's back was a Dark Grey quilt. Kat purred and stood up.

Carefully so as not to wake them she tiptoed across Hanna's back and onto the quilt. Orange eyes watched her carefully but he didn't open his mouth. She assumed so as not to wake Hanna. She curled herself up in the center of the quilt and purred laying her head back down. She knew that she would be woken up and thrown off in the morning when the exhuberant red head started his day. She didn't mind however. It was nice to sleep close to someone. Not just in the next room but to be able to feel them breathe. To be next to them and be able to make sure just for one small second that they are not going to jump up and leave you. That was amazing. Her head nodded and she felt herself drifting off again. She wondered if these two were the last on their list or if they had more people to visit later. She didn't care either way. While she liked Hanna's companions as people, what she loved most about them was what they did for him. He always turned happy when around his friends. Much more so than when alone. She wanted to see that and she would follow him to the ends of the earth if it meant she could see that on his face. 


	6. Kat Goes Shopping

Kat woke when the clock started striking Nine in the morning. The sunlight settled on her and the folded blankets. She moved so that she was sitting up and stared around the room. Someone must have lifted her up so that she would not fall when Hanna woke up because she was laying on a pile of folded blakets on the couch. She stood up and started stretching her muscles. She walked around the edge of the coffee table and into the kitchen. She stretched her back and purred, then felt a large hand pick her up around the middle.

Ples lifted the cat off of the floor and put her under his arm. That elicited a complaint from Hanna about hey it's my kitty. The red head reached his hand out to take her but Ples just tapped it with the spatula in his hand. "Eat your food or your not getting the Cat." Hanna whimpered and attempted to use his puppy dog eyes to change Ples's mind, however the older man would not be budged. "She'll sit on the counter and eat her own breakfast until your done." He set Kat on the countertop and placed a bowl of milk in front of her. He then set down a small plate of sliced up bits of sausage next to it.

Kat looked at the older man before she began to down her morning feast. She squeezed her eyes shut in appreciation and he smiled and rubbed the golden fur between her ears. She looked over to the table to see Hanna attempting to elicit "Balder"s help in getting his cat back. The Zombie however was having none of it. He sat holding his book and reading as Hanna ate occasionally looking at the clock. When Hanna tapped his arm and tried to get him to override Ples the zombie just raised an eyebrow and looked at Hanna's still half eaten food. The red head looked sheepishly at the food and sighed then started shoving food into his mouth.

"Balder" sat there admiring the breakfast spread. Even though Ples seemed to spend most of his time drinking he was a remarkably good cook. There were eggs, and pancakes and sausage and bacon, and hash browns all laid out on the counter underneath the plates. He wondered exactly how much Ples thought he and the boy's would eat. Ples however did not seem the slightest bit interested in eating. He smiled but abstained when hanna offered him a piece of buttered toast. "Not hungry thank you." He smiled at Hanna and nursed his coffee. The four of them sat in silence for a while just the peaceful ticking of a clock somewhere and the scrape of silverware on plates.

When Hanna had finished his plate he got up to retrieve the Cat. He started towards her, but felt a tug on his waistband. "Balder" pulled him back by his jeans and sat him in his chair. Then stood up himself and took Hanna's plate back to the food. He spooned more of each onto the plate and then topped it off with a pancake. "Here" he said handing it back to Hanna. "Finish it. Then you can have her." Hanna looked pitifully at him but started eating when he realized that would get him nowhere.

Ples raised his eyebrow at the tactic but kept silent. At least he was getting Hanna to eat, as if the boy didn't have enough problems without fainting due to hunger. He turned to look at Veser's food. The Vess wasn't even picky about what he was eating, but this morning he had piled everything but the sausage onto his plate. Ples sighed. Vess never ate sausage so no use arguing with him about it. He looked down at his own coffee and grinned. Nothing telling that he had rum mixed in with it. He sipped the bitter drink with a grin on his face.

The kitchen was quiet for the most part each person doing their own thing. Kat finished her milk and sausage and sat contentedly licking her whisker's clean on the countertop. She watched Hanna out of the corner of her eye. He was picking at the last bits of food on his plate. It really wasn't that big of a deal to eat his breakfast was it? Living with him the last two weeks should have given her some insight but to tell the truth she usually wasn't awake for breakfast at all. She slept until just after Hanna left for his shift at the department store. She thought about that. At home her lessons started at 6am sharp, No matter what day, summer, winter, fall. She woke up early and stayed awake all day. Yet, Here she slept, and woke up at 9 or 11 in the afternoon.

Hanna sat at the table pouting. The look on his face would have made even the coldest hearted person give in, but it was lucky that "Balder's" heart didn't beat anymore. He watched Hanna closely and smiled. "Eat or you don't get the cat." was his remark.

Hanna crumpled his eyes in a glare. "I DON'T HAVE TO I'M 24 I'll EAT WHEN I'M GOOD AND READY!" He stood up to prove his point and was astonished when "Balder" pulled him down onto his lap.

"Do you really wanna fight about this here?" he said. This was puctuated by him slipping his hand into Hanna's shirt and tickling his belly. The action elicited peals of laughter from the 24 year old who easily crumpled to the floor in a ball. "Balder" smiled and continued his attack on the defenseless Paranormal Investigator.

"ST...OP...STO...P...StOP!" Hanna yelled until he finally got the word past his lips. His laughter was contagious and Veser began to grin as well. Pretty soon the whole kitchen was Rife with laughter and all four of them were in a good mood.

"Your getting your a*s kicked bro!" Vess shouted as Hanna rolled on the floor crippled by his own ticklishness. Ples smiled and tapped the 19 year old on the head.

"Maybe I should learn where your ticklish spot is?" he smirked taking a sip of coffee.

Vesse's smile got even wider at that. "Well I ALREADY know where yours is, it's right..." the selkie was cut off as Ples blushed and stuffed a pancake into the selkies mouth.

"I think you and I are done with that conversation for now." he murmured. His face was almost as red as a cherry tomato Kat noticed. Something she would have to save for later perhaps? She purred as she thought of all the things they could talk about when she was human again... If she ever became human again. A wave of melancholy swept over her and she paused. There it was, longing for her family. She had pushed it away the past two weeks, but on this morning she was more than ready keep it inside. She just wanted to spend time with Hanna and "Balder" was that so hard? She would not be held responsible for anything that happend with her memories. They were going so far away in her mind that she COULD not think about them today.

She hopped off the counter and made her way under the table. Hanna was too preoccupied with his "Punishment" to notice her slipping around him and towards the other end of the table. This "VESS" kid smelled too delicious, she just couldnt help herself. She pawed at his cargo pants and stretched herself up to see him. He was eating his food, but the least he could do was pet her!

Veser reached down and picked the cat up lifting her by her middle. He looked her in the eyes and then let her sit on his lap as he ate. "Nya?" she lifted her eyes to look at him. She was just too cute, he decided and slipped her a piece of bacon. As she chomped on it greedily he caught Ples's eye. The older man raised one eyebrow and then smiled. He reached over and took another piece of bacon off of the teen's plate. Holding it for her to take it out of his hand. "She is very beautiful." the older man said. "I'm suprised such a creature was in a dumpster. She could very well be a purebred with a long pedigree and show ribbons."

"Really? I didn't know that she looked like a pedigree cat." Vess and Ples looked up to see Hanna attempting to stand. He was so winded from his ordeal that his cheeks were still read and he was still huffing out his nose. "Does she really look that special?" He turned to Ples while reaching out a hand across the table.

The hand was intercepted while Ples answered. "I knew a friend some time ago that had a cat that looks like her. He took her to shows and she brought home ribbons and trophies. Apparently cat's can only do that if they are a certain breed and not a mix blood between a few breeds. They MUST be perfect or else they don't win trophies. She looks remarkably like that cat. If it wasn't for the fact that He is not only male but in Alaska right now I would say they could be one and the same." He watched her tap her paws agains Veser's hand. The Half-Selkie was holding his hand above her face watching her paw at a piece of bacon he was dangling.

Kat listened with indiference to their conversation. The fact was they were right. She was a show cat. She had taken the spell from the book and bonded it to her familiar and her pet Holly, who was a show grade Siamese. Kat had trophies from her sitting on her bedside table, and Holly wore one of Kat's favorite trophies around her neck. A gold locket dangling from a pale blue ribbon. That trophy was given to the most adept familiar at the Magyk gathering in central Park. Kat went every year and brought Holly most years. They truly were a sight. Kat in her Pink and white street wear, and Holly sitting on Kat's Messanger bag. Both of them truely enjoyed the change of pace, and New York was where some of Kat's closest friends lived. She had a fondness for the place like no other.

She grinned as she caught the strip of bacon between her teeth and caught Hanna's answer. "Maybe someone's looking for her then." She looked up. She could swear he was starting to tear up, and she hated when he did that. It made her feel bad for having to leave. She mewed but Hanna was lost in his own little world. Visions of giving her up she was sure, Wouldn't he be surprised. She purred and stepped onto the table where she began licking his cheeks. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her holding her tight. "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE" he said clutching her so close to his chest she could hardly breathe. She nya'd quietly in response and he laughed.

Out of nowhere he looked up and clapped his hand's together. "I wanna go shopping guy's can we?" He looked pleadingly at "Balder" who shrugged his shoulders.

"What in the world would you need to buy?" Ples answered. "Hanna you barely have enough money to make it through rent. What would you want to 'Go shopping' for today?"

Hanna just looked at the older man like he was insane. "WINDOW shopping Ples. We can do that for free! Free is amazing because we don't have to pay for it" he grinned and leapt up from the table. "Come on guy's were going to the theatre tonight so why don't we spend the day shopping! Even if Balder and I can't buy anything It's fun to look!" He looked excitedly at the other three and finally his excitement seemed to rub off. Veser stood up and High fived him with vigor.

"ALRIGHT B*t*h were on our way OUT!" He ran to the living room and towards the front door. Hanna chased after him grabbing a pancake on his way out of the kitchen. Kat sat perched on the table still. She had not a clue what had just happened, however she assumed that in his excitement Hanna had neglected to grab her. She stretched herself out and purred. He would remember in a few moments she assumed. Just long enough for her to get situated. She watched "Balder" and Ples stand up and start putting things away. Ples reached for Tupperwear containers for the rest of the food, and "Balder" was washing the dishes from the other two and, the plate's that Ples had already emptied. Kat watched them work at this for a few minutes with excited "Yiiiii's" coming from down the hall. That she knew was Hanna, but why wasn't he coming back for her?

With the excitement from the other room Kat was starting to get upset. She knew she was being melodramatic, but what if she was one of those things Hanna liked for a few moments and then... Well she let the thought drop off. She wanted to assume that she was important to Hanna, but... Hanna had only had her for two weeks and was already forgetting her? The gloom seemed to spread and she flattened herself out on the table. Her body looked like a Kat pancake when she did that. She felt she needed another place to think. She looked around spotting a Kleenex box. She stalked over to it and sniffed it. It smelled like Ples. Good enough for her she supposed. She put one foot inside the top, and then inserted another. By the time she was doen all four feet were planted securely inside the box, and she was squished as tight as possible inside. Her tail and head were pressed into the box and only her back was visible from the surface.

"Hmmmm... I'm pretty sure I didn't make a furry muffin." she heard Ples laugh. She felt her Kleenex box, portable thinking room item, move off of the table and get carried somewhere. Too bad she was too upset to care. She felt herself move from room to room and then finally heard a girlish squeal.

"OH GOSH" she heard the red-head croon "She's a MUFFIN a Kitty muffin." she felt the box jostle as she was passed off and then felt a hand pressing the wrong way on her fur. THAT WAS IT. She ripped her head out of the box and tore her feet out after it. She leapt from the box to the first thing she could spot, which so happened to be "Balder's" shoulder. She sat there for few seconds sulking.

It had all happened so fast that she wasn't really sure what anyone thought. That was until she saw the look on Hanna's face. He looked utterly miserable, and she was pretty sure he didn't know why she was mad. That made things all the more pitiable. She was in a terrible mood however and his puppy dog eyes did nothing to help that. She flicked her tail and made herself comfortable on the Zombie's shoulder, completely ignoring Hanna. Maybe he'd learn how bad it felt to be left alone on a kitchen table. Not that she could really leave him on the table of course.

Veser seeing this was going nowhere punched Hanna on the shoulder. "LET'S GO MAN!" he laughed, and pushed the door open. Hanna turned to him and smiled a small wry smile and then followed outside. All four tramped to the bus stop in the soaking wet grass.

The bus arrived a few minutes after that. Hanna kept looking at the cat the entire trip, trying to entice her to look at him. She ignored him still not even bothering to purr when he reached out his hand. They took the bus straight down the road three miles to the downtown shopping center. It was cute with little shops and decorations scattered about. Vess looked in the windows and kept commenting to Hanna about "OH SH*t look at this" and "Who in their right mind would pay for THAT?" Ples and "Balder were looking throught the window's too. trying to distract themselves from the cat's guilt trip.

After a while Hanna walked without even looking through the windows, his misery apparent. A few moments passed however and he saw something in a window that changed his mind. It was a little Antique shop referred to as "OLD TYME TREASURES" The place was quiet and had not a soul inside at the moment. "STOP, hold on I GOTTA go inside." He threw the door of the shop open and grabbed something that had been in the window.

The three of them watched him run to the back of the shop and then entered themselves. No use standing outside when they could be looking at things instead. Ples picked up a couple of Wine glasses and took a look at the price. Veser headed around the other side of the shop looking at all of the item's people seldom used anymore. "LOOK AT ME I'M a pirate!" he said grinning. He had a gold leaf towl rack wrapped around his head so that the leaf part was covering his eye. Ples shook his head at the game and smiled.

" Well you do refer to yourself as the... " Ples was cut off by a very energetic. "GUYS"

Hanna came out of the back of the shop clutching an item in his hands. "Here kitty, kitty I got something for ya." The grin on his face was sure when he went up to "Balder" and reached up towards his shoulder. Kat ignored him and jumped off to land in between a set of dishes and an old fashioned Iron.

"Got some attitude on her don't she?" the old crinkly voice came from behind Hanna and all three looked to see who it was. A grizzled old man stood watching her intently. His eyes were the fiercest blue Kat had ever seen, and there was something special about his voice. A sort of hypnotic quality. "Been some time since a cat has stepped in here. Nice to see one so pretty too." He reached out his hand to pet her and smiled when she pressed her head to his palm. She stilled at his touch, It was cold, Dead feeling. The old man was dying she noted, that was why she felt something so off about him. She purred but still kept her distance. Whatever he was dying from wasn't contagious but she got a forboding feeling about it. A grizzled old laugh escaped his mouth.

"Yes, yes I know you can tell sweetheart." He smiled and the other four inhabitants of the room looked quizically at her. "Don't you go telling my secret now you hear?" He laughed and backed away from the cat. He turned to Hanna. "You can have it boy, she's a pretty one." he smiled and walked to the back of the shop, out of earshot of the group.

"WHAT THE H*L! WAS THAT." Vess said staring nervously in the direction the man had gone. All of them were wary. It was odd that he had acted that way.

Hanna opened his hand and showed the item to the cat. As she looked at it her eyes started to tear up. She sneezed and walked closer. The Item was an old fashioned locket on a ribbon. The ribbon, blue satin, was embroidered with the word KITTY on it in curly letters. Kat realized why Hanna wanted it so much. She also realized why the old man was willing to give it away as it touched her fur. There were memories embedded into the object. Of a female siamese that lived in this shop before. Kat felt them pull at her but ignored them. She wasn't working and she didn't have to figure out every supernatural mishap that came her way. It would be a lot wiser if she just got out of this place as fast as possible. Hanna tied the ribbon securely around her neck cooing as he did it. She noticed that he was smiling a lot more now that she wasn't mad at him. That was a good thing she guessed.

She purred and went to leap back onto "Balder's" shoulder but Hanna held out his arms. She purred and made a flying leap into them. She clambered from his arms to his shoulder. Finally resting her upper half on his read haired head. The five of them made their way out the shop. None the wiser, Kat thought. She looked back at the shop as they crossed the street outside. None of them new it, but that old man was cursed.

As Hanna walked along the streetside she lay perched on his head her back half resting on his shoulder somewhat. She thought about the old man, how she had known that he was cursed. She knew her gifts but that wasn't usually one of them. She was normally as clueless as the next guy about whether someone was cursed or not. She assumed it was just due to her being feline. Cats were said to have a sixth sense for those things after all. She thought about him and what he could have done to have earned such a horrible thing. The curse was strong, and full of hate. Someone wanted him dead, and far earlier than if he had not been cursed.

They wandered around for a while just looking through shop windows. Kat was content to people watch from her vantage point. She had never seen these many people together before, and such a diverse group. There were men, women, blacks, whites, asians, latino's. Anything she could think of and she was sure she could spot one. She didn't see anyone she knew personally but, with this many people she doubted she would.

The four of them stopped shopping at around 8:30 when all the shops began to close. They came out of the entire afternoon with, a plate to replace the one that "Balder broke that morning (yellow with giant pink daisies on it.), A bottle of wine (For Ples) a pair of shark themed slippers (Veser begged and Ples finally said yes), and Kat's ribbon and pendant. The Kat spent the entire trip on Hanna's head watching what he watched and attempting to put together what kind of things they needed in the house. She was hoping that when she was human again she would remember some of these things to buy him. She doubted it but the least she could do was try.

The four of them made their way to the bus stop once got on making their way to the back of the bus. The busdriver took a look at Kat but said nothing, probably because of "Balder" standing directly behind Hanna. They all settled down for the busride for the evening. Kat watched the scene go by out the window. They were headed deeper into the city and she felt nervous about it. What were they going to do? She shivered and felt Hanna laugh underneath her. "Your gonna like Toni Kitty she's REALLY pretty" He giggled and Kat's tensity seemed to melt a little. As long as Hanna was by her side nothing could go wrong right? 


End file.
